The Internet continues to make available ever-increasing amounts of information which can be stored in databases and accessed therefrom. With the proliferation of portable terminals and wireless devices (e.g., smartphones, cellular telephones, personal data assistants (PDAs), and other similar communication devices), users are becoming more mobile, and hence, more reliant upon information accessible via the Internet.
In addition to using mobile terminals for standard voice communications and Internet access, more and more users are transmitting and receiving sensitive information. This information exchange should be protected against malicious, unwanted or accidental interception. Many wireless protocols are capable of some form of secure data transmission. However, unfortunately, these options are increasingly complex for an end user who wishes to transmit protected wireless communications via a mobile device.
One popular wireless local area network (WLAN) communications protocol is the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11 set of standards. This wireless communication protocol (Wi-Fi) encompasses a set of wireless LAN/WLAN standards developed by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards committee. The 802.11 family currently includes six over-the-air modulation techniques that all use the same protocol. The most popular techniques are those defined by the ‘a,’ ‘b,’ and ‘g’ amendments to the original standard.
Wireless communication allows for “networked” communication across the wireless spectrum with no requirement for a “wired” connection. This freedom allows ease of use and mobility for the user. A user can connect to any WGD (wireless gateway device) or AP (access point) that allows the connection, for example, based upon authentication and authorization techniques. Thereafter, the user can quickly download (or transmit) content from a favorite website. Unfortunately, this access comes with increased security risk.
Conventionally, dealing with this risk was an all or nothing option. In other words, a user had an option to connect and send data back and forth between the WGD in the clear or without any protection at all. Here, there was no protection from a malicious user that is monitoring a user's access to the wireless spectrum. On the other hand, another option was to enable complex configurations through various security protocols. This option was expensive both in monetary as well as processing cost.
Conventional security protocols used in wireless transmission include Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) which was intended to provide comparable confidentiality to a traditional wired network. In particular, WEP does not protect users of the network from each other, hence the name. Several serious weaknesses were identified, for example, today, most any WEP key can be cracked with readily-available software in two minutes or less.
WEP was superseded by Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) in 2003, and then by the full IEEE 802.11(i) standard, also known as WPA2 in 2004. Most often, these security protocols were only used by corporate and home networks. Hotspots, Internet cafes, hotels, multiple dwelling units and other places providing wireless Internet access usually do not provide any security of the wireless connection. The complexity involved in configuration of the WEP/WPA settings and compatibility issues dictates a more simplified configuration.